Nuclear Cleanup: Completion of Standards and Effectiveness of Land Use Planning Are Uncertain

United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-08-26 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:RCED-94-144 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-144 P0b002ee18038d617 f:rc94144 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-144 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-144 RCED-94-144 Standards evaluation Radiation exposure hazards Interagency relations Land management Environmental engineering Radioactive waste disposal Environmental monitoring Cost control Hazardous substances Pollution control EPA National Priorities List Colorado Washington Ohio DOE Hanford Future Site Uses Study South Carolina Idaho Nevada Texas Letter Report RCED Nuclear Cleanup: Completion of Standards and Effectiveness of Land Use Planning Are Uncertain During 50 years of nuclear weapons production, the Energy Department (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have generated huge amounts of radioactive wastes that have contaminated soil and groundwater. As a result, DOE faces a massive, complex, and costly cleanup effort. During the next several years, DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will decide on methods to be used for environmental cleanup at DOE sites. Standards for "how clean is clean enough" and information about future land uses of DOE sites would help in selecting appropriate remedial actions. Past efforts to develop cleanup standards for radioactive substances were unsuccessful. This report determines (1) how cleanup levels are now determined for DOE sites, (2) the status and the likelihood of success of EPA's efforts to develop cleanup standards for radioactive substances, (3) the status of DOE's land use planning efforts, and (4) what hurdles would need to be overcome if land use planning were to be effectively implemented in determining cleanup levels. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-144/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-144.htm GAO/RCED-94-144 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-144 Letter Report GAO/RCED-94-144; Nuclear Cleanup: Completion of Standards and Effectiveness of Land Use Planning Are Uncertain; Standards evaluation Radiation exposure hazards Interagency relations Land management Environmental engineering Radioactive waste disposal Environmental monitoring Cost control Hazardous substances Pollution control EPA National Priorities List Colorado Washington Ohio DOE Hanford Future Site Uses Study South Carolina Idaho Nevada Texas